Taking stock Each month an HTA member offers an insider’s view of the world of horticulture Jon Mason Director and plantarea manager at Highfield Garden World
Highfield Garden World, just south of Gloucester, employs 90 local staff, some of whom have been with the business over 30 years. The company was founded by the Greenways in 1920 and today, still in family hands, they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their garden centre, which opened in 1992.
www.highfieldgardenworld.co.uk
What made you choose a career in horticulture? As a youngster I liked nothing better than messing about with ponds. After leaving school I was at the local garden centre buying plants for a pond I’d just built and asked if there were any jobs going – there was and I got hired. Soon after that I decided on horticulture as a career and for three years combined my job with doing a general horticulture course at Hartpury College. I joined Highfield as Plantarea manager 18 years ago in 1994. I became one of the directors in 2003.
How have you seen the garden industry change?
Garden centres once sold just plants but nowadays they form only part of the offering. Highfield is no different – we sell homewares, gifts, pet supplies, aquatics, garden machinery, kitchenware, fresh vegetables and restaurant meals… Consumers want to pick up a birthday present, a ready-meal for dinner, a tray of pansies for the patio and enjoy a cup of tea and a slice of cake while they’re at it. As for buying plants, customers no longer buy bare-root plants in the autumn – our busiest time now is spring when they come in looking for immediate visual impact for their gardens.
What do you think the future holds? When the sun shines the plants sell, but with the weather proving less reliable these days, garden centres increasingly rely on other product sectors to smooth out the cash flow. Here at Highfield we’ve changed our approach to stock control
Small deliveries on a weekly basis save waste at Highfield Garden World
within the plantarea, and I hear other garden centres are doing likewise. Instead of pre-ordering whole plant collections, we order small deliveries on a weekly basis. We focus on what is looking its best and order in a little and often, that way we avoid a whole load of wastage in the process.
What will you be doing next month? Personally, I will be spending hours pounding the streets as I prepare for the London Marathon! Professionally, we will be ordering stock for the spring season, as well as going on buying trips to Europe.
Do you have any advice for anyone wishing to enter the business? If you can earn a living doing something you enjoy, you’re on to a winner. But if it’s retail you’re considering, be aware it’s a people business whatever you’re selling.
What has proved to be your most successful promotion? Our loyalty card scheme is a very useful tool. We now have 11,000 card holders signed up. As well as encouraging brand loyalty, having customers’ contact details means we can build a better relationship with them, keep them up-to-date with our news and give them reasons to come in-store. We organise evening talks and tastings as well as coach trips. We also send them a newsletter twice a year
22 HTAnews I March 2013 I
www.the-hta.org.uk
which is packed with information and advice, staff profiles and special offers.
How are you responding to environmental issues? We are increasingly mindful of green issues. Among other initiatives, our waste water from the whole site goes into our lake. That water is then used to irrigate our growing area and to water the plants on sale.
What legislation has given you the biggest headache? EU legislation means we can’t use some of the pesticides we relied on. Of course, it’s all for the right reasons, but with no equally effective alternatives available it makes our job just that little bit more difficult!
In an ideal world, how would you like to see the gardening sector develop? One area which I think could be developed is houseplants. In the UK we hang on to ours for years, often when they’re way past their best. In Holland, people keep a houseplant for a month or so, then replace it once it has peaked. I’d like to see the British approach shifting in that direction and the range of houseplants on offer expanding to fuel and fulfil the demand.
If you would like to feature in a future Taking Stock, email
media.office@the-hta.org.uk
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